Ducks4you for 2022

[heirloomgal]

I was just gonna look at my beans today, BUT I had to harvest 3 of them. I did remember that I planted a handful of asparagus beans. I will Definitely save These seeds, they are so cool! There are more beans coming, too.

So THAT'S how those long beans make pods!!!! Aha, never seen that before!

 

[ducks4you]

I Know!! It looks like a waterfall!!
DD (chef) is excited about me freezing them for winter stirfry's.
DH wants me to pressure can the Other green beans. He was thinking quarts, I was thinking pints.
Any thoughts?

 

[ducks4you]

I forgot to plant these last 2 sweet potatoes into my DD's garden area. They were left in a plastic grocery bag and in the dark in my truck sitting in the garage.
Guess I found aNOTHER way to grow slips.

 

[ducks4you]

Can't forgot our dry and shady areas while we grow some food.

Best Native Plants for Dry, Shady Gardens

Dry shade is one of the most difficult planting situations any gardener faces. One common area is under tree canopies amidst tree roots. Here's how to deal with this challenge as well as the best native plants that truly thrive in dry shade.

www.almanac.com

 

[flowerbug]

I've used this company's seeds, they seemed great. Now if only they would pellet those itty-bitty teeny weeny carrot seeds....! I know they sell the carrot tapes but the price is just a bit too high for the amount in there I think.

Interesting, I didn't know the coating shortened the seed shelf life.

just nattering about this last bit, if the seed coating doesn't contain anything harmful to the seed and the packet is well sealed it doesn't seem to me that it should make any difference at all. i'm thinking that claim may just be a mistake that isn't fully spelled out. to me clay is pretty much inert and too would be food coloring if it supposed to be food safe. and why use food coloring anyways? just marketing stuff to me. perhaps a bit of fertilizer and/or fungicide to try to prevent damping off. ok, go ahead, but finally it's not something too likely to be done by me anyways.

if you want to do your own seed tapes use TP, a bit of soluble glue with a toothpick and dab the TP where you want the seeds to stick and then sprinkle the seeds on there and let it dry. dump off lose seeds and voila!

and no, i've never done this at any significant scale as i'm pretty happy running a seed drill and then using a rake dragged through the line (at 90 degrees) to spread the seeds out more. close enough and done without complicating the issue.

the coated seeds do make a lot of sense if you are a large operation trying to fill seed starting trays with exactly one seed. i've watched those vids and been amazed by how that works (and also the prices for something like a metal plate with certain sized holes drilled in it in a regular pattern).

 

[heirloomgal]

just nattering about this last bit, if the seed coating doesn't contain anything harmful to the seed and the packet is well sealed it doesn't seem to me that it should make any difference at all. i'm thinking that claim may just be a mistake that isn't fully spelled out. to me clay is pretty much inert and too would be food coloring if it supposed to be food safe. and why use food coloring anyways? just marketing stuff to me. perhaps a bit of fertilizer and/or fungicide to try to prevent damping off. ok, go ahead, but finally it's not something too likely to be done by me anyways.

if you want to do your own seed tapes use TP, a bit of soluble glue with a toothpick and dab the TP where you want the seeds to stick and then sprinkle the seeds on there and let it dry. dump off lose seeds and voila!

and no, i've never done this at any significant scale as i'm pretty happy running a seed drill and then using a rake dragged through the line (at 90 degrees) to spread the seeds out more. close enough and done without complicating the issue.

the coated seeds do make a lot of sense if you are a large operation trying to fill seed starting trays with exactly one seed. i've watched those vids and been amazed by how that works (and also the prices for something like a metal plate with certain sized holes drilled in it in a regular pattern).

I wonder if the clay is prone to absorbing moisture from the air?

 

[flowerbug]

I wonder if the clay is prone to absorbing moisture from the air?

if you keep the seeds sealed up in the plastic envelopes it shouldn't matter that much.

 

[ducks4you]

Put 2 hrs in (so far) on my tomatoes. I got 14/24 pruned up and/or tied to the fencing, or put Through the fencing. As often happens, they got away from me. On most of the plants I have several leaders instead of two, as is recommended. Glad that I pruned tomatoes last year. Once you prune, you are less concerned about killing your plants.
Weeded primarily crabgrass and some tall weed that NOBODY wants to identify, but I am about to NAME since it likes to grow EVERYWHERE on my property!!!! I grows with a tall stem and and handful of leaves at the top, and the root looks like a daikon radish and is mostly reddish.
Back to pruning--I even pruned off flowers where I have a good sized tomato and the other flowers haven't been fertilized. I figure the plant should put it's energy into larger fruit.
I plan to harvest from lesser leaders of each plant, then prune them off at the base. Even NOW, some of my tomatoes are growing up to 5 leaders, all with fruit growing.

Pictures will be later, before and after, so that you will be amazed!!

 

[ducks4you]

Watered my beds first this morning. I kinda planted my Brussels Sprouts deep, so I pounded my hose spray into the covered over furrows to really soak them. No problem bc I have same amount of seeds left, should I need to re plant seeds.
I found more okra and beans up and even cucumbers are up!
Cauliflour and cabbage needed some watering, watered my beet bed, none up yet.
Volunteer tomato (in the main garden) has 10 tomatoes. One of the other tomatoes has over 20 tomatoes growing, but I don't think the fruit will get very big. I am using this thick baling twine, the stuff that I coiled up in June, and not tying too tight, just supporting and tying To the fencing. When you prune off extra stems the whole plant is lighter and easier to handle.
As usual, all weeds and pruning gets tossed onto the grass, to be mowed/mulched in, and less work for me to pick up and remove. ONLY bindweed, in the summer, I have discovered, will reroot itself IN the lawn. Harvested 3 more asparagus beans. I understand that if I Don't harvest, the beans will stop producing, so pretty much everyday I will need to "walk my beans."

 

[ducks4you]

Walked around with my phone and took some lovely and Not-so-lovely garden photos. First, the sweet potato bed is sparse and weedy. NOT TODAY, Ducks! Let growing sweet potatoes lie, and weed and plant some companion seeds there tomorrow.
My actual asparagus looks lovely, esPECIALLY where it is falling in front of one of the hydrangea flowers.
The "yellow" is just where the sun was hitting it, with the rest in the shade.